


Dances and Dreams

by LadyCera



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Canon Divergent, Hijack, Kidnapping, M/M, Memory Loss, Pining, Slow Burn, Viking AU(Sort of - Jack isn't actually a Viking), canon character death, love and fluff and angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2020-05-16 11:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19317601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyCera/pseuds/LadyCera
Summary: A chance encounter with a young boy named Jack will change Hiccup's life forever and over time the two form an unbreakable bond. But eventually Hiccup is forced to come to terms with losing Jack... and then against all odds getting him back again.





	1. Troll Hunting

**Author's Note:**

> A rewrite from an older fic of mine (I hated the old first chapter, which is probably why I didn't do much with it). Rewrote it back in January, and I think it's time I work on it some more. 
> 
> This is going to be part of a long story, broken into two or three parts. and I must apologize in advance for it, but Jack dies at the end of the first part... but then comes back again! big shock, I know. Also Hiccup isn't going to take it well, but \I will try to keep it short and as painless as possible.

Hiccup trudged along behind his father. He stared at the larger Viking’s feet in front of him as he walked along. He glanced up at his father’s back. He could never get over how absolutely massive his father was. Admittedly, Hiccup was only eight years old, but his father certainly lived up to his “Vast” title. Hiccup looked off to the side at various vender’s stalls. He really didn’t understand why he was here. Some nonsense about representing the village, and apparently that included dragging your eight year old son along to meet other leaders and their families and bartering with traders and whatnot. What it meant for Hiccup was boredom, the potential of running into Dagur and possibly getting beaten up by other leaders’s sons.

“Keep up, Hiccup,” he heard his father say in front of him. Hiccup looked up as he was pulled out of his thoughts and found that he had started to fall behind. He rushed to catch up to his father, rubbing at one arm as he did so. He really hoped this turned out to be an uneventful trip.

His father lead them to a meeting hall and Hiccup stuck close to this father as he greeted various leaders from neighboring tribes, their families, elders, and trade partners. It all passed in a blur of names and titles to Hiccup as he looked around the hall. Blessedly, there was no sign of Dagur or his father, Oswald The Agreeable, a fact his father would later lament. Admittedly Hiccup liked Oswald, but he really didn’t care for the man’s son much.

As the meeting came to a close his father suggested Hiccup go out into the trade area and try to make some friends. Hiccup put on a forced smile as he left the hall. Great!! Make friends. Try to avoid people was more like it. Hiccup walked slowly down the steps leading to the main trade area, as he reached the bottom he looked around. Well, maybe he could find something interesting. He wondered if there was a black smith’s stall in this mess of produce and clothing.

As he passed by a stall he suddenly felt someone grab onto the back of his shirt. “Run!!” a young voice exclaimed as the hand moved from his shirt to his arm and he found himself being pulled along and then behind a building.

“Wha-What!?” He exclaimed in confusion as he realized it was another boy pulling him along. The boy seemed to be a bit older than him and had messy brown hair. Hiccup was pulled past several buildings before the other boy practically shoved him into a bush.

“In here!”

“Wha.. What’s going on?” he asked.  
The other boy turned back to him, holding a finger to his lips. “Shh! They’ll find us!”

Hiccup’s eyes widened in concern. “Who will?” He whispered to the other boy.

“The trolls.” He replied.

Hiccup sank back slightly. “Trolls?” he asked, starting to feel afraid. “What will they do if they find us?”

The older boy turned back and shook his head at Hiccup. “They aren’t trying to find us… We’re hunting them!”

Hiccup’s eyes widened comically. “What do we do if we catch one?”

A set of brown eyes shifted from side to side a moment as he thought about that question. “Umm, we’ll… we’ll catch it! And show the world that they’re real!”

Hiccup frowned. “But.. we won’t hurt it, right?”

The other boy shook his head, brown hair flipping from side to side. “No.. no. of course not! And we’ll let it go once we’ve shown everyone! And then we’ll be famous!”

Hiccup’s eyes lit up at that statement. He… he wasn’t sure if he was ready to be famous… that was a lot of attention.

The other boy peeked out from the bush before turning and pulling on Hiccup’s sleeve, “Come on!”

Hiccup pulled back on his arm a moment. “Wait, I uhh…” He was definitely forgetting his manners, his father would be so disappointed in him. “My name is Hiccup.”

The other boy turned back and looked at him before smiling. “I’m Jackson,” he said holding his hand out to Hiccup, “But just call me Jack.”

Hiccup smiled back as they shook hands, then Jack was leading him back out into the market area. They crept between buildings, Jack peeking around corners as they went. Hiccup glanced nervously over his shoulder the whole time watching for any trolls that might jump out at them. Suddenly Jack was shouting, grabbed his arm and the two were running forwards towards the vender’s stalls. Jack lead the way running between stalls and ducking around people and Hiccup was struggling to keep up.

As they passed between two stalls a salesman came around a corner. Hiccup pivoted to try and avoid colliding with the man and lost his balance. As he found himself falling backwards he tried to find something to steady himself with, and happened to grab Jack’s arm. He fell backwards hitting the vendors table and dragging Jack down with him, the two fell onto the table and it flipped over and struck another table, sending a mass of chicken eggs and fabric dye tumbling from the two tables and to the ground on top of them.

Fifteen minutes later found the two boys, covered in egg and various colours of dyes staring at the ground as Stoick and Jack’s father spoke to the vendors trying to determine how much the worth of the destroyed products was.

Hiccup glanced from the ground to his father. He sure looked mad. He rubbed at his arm. He wondered how much eggs could cost, hopefully not too much. He had no idea how much fabric dye was worth. He felt a tap against his arm and he glanced over at Jack.

“Want to play again tomorrow?” the older boy whispered to him.

Hiccup glanced at his father to make sure he wasn’t looking back at him, then smiled and nodded

After the vendors were paid Hiccup was dragged off for the night. He suspected it was better not to tell his Father he had made plans to play with the other boy the next day.

 

Hiccup woke the following morning and swiftly gobbled down what they had for breakfast. The whole time his father said nothing about how rapidly he was eating, but Stoick had his suspicions as to why. The boy was at least socializing with someone while they were there. As Hiccup moved to leave he intentionally gave very little indication of what his plans for the day were, if he even had any.

“Hiccup?” his father said as Hiccup moved out the door.

The boy cringed as he looked back at his father from the doorway.

“Try to stay out of trouble today.”

Hiccup’s face turned slightly red as he nodded back to his father. “kay,” he said as he ducked out of the door.

 

The second day proved much less eventful then the first, with the two boys continuing their hunt for trolls and other fae creatures. By the day’s end the market was drawing to a close and the two boys were rounded up and eventually found themselves at the docks. As Jack’s father loaded the last of their items onto the boat from Burgess Jack came up to Hiccup. He smiled widely and put on an air of casualness. Hiccup wasn’t sure how he was managing it. Under the surface he was antsy. What.. what if he never saw his new friend again? What if his dad didn’t bring him back to the market again next year?

“So,” Jack said, “Do you come to the market every year?”

“Umm,” Hiccup scratched at the back of his neck. “Actually this is my first year coming. My dad usually comes but..”

“You should come back next year!” Jack cut in. “I do. I always have a lot of fun.” His smile faded. “But most of the friends I meet don’t come back the following years, for one reason or another.”

Hiccup’s face fell at Jack’s reaction. Was.. was he sad? There hadn’t been a time in the last two days when Jack hadn’t been smiling. “Yea! I’ll come back next year!” Hiccup promised.

Jack looked up, slightly startled by Hiccup’s sudden proclamation. His smile returned. “Alright! I’ll see you then!”

Hiccup smiled back, then turned away to go back up the dock, before he stopped, turned abruptly and gave Jack a tight hug. Jack stumbled back, slightly surprised by the sudden affection, then he raised his arms and hugged the Viking boy back. A short while later Jack’s family and the attendees from Burgess were on their way back out to sea and Hiccup was being ushered onto the ship from Berk.

 

The year Hiccup turned nine he returned to Tirgus Market with his father, and almost immediately vanished. But Stoick suspected he was with a dark haired boy from Burgess.

A short while later Jack ran up to his mother, Hiccup in tow, with Jack dragging his wagon behind him. “Mom, I wanna ride my wagon down Baker’s Hill,” he told her, referring to the large hill that stood beside the market.

His mother smiled knowingly. “Hmm, that sounds dangerous sweetie. You better wear a helmet.”

Jack smiled. “Thanks Mom!” He enthused as the two of them ran off.

Jack’s father glanced over at his wife with a raised eyebrow. “You do realize what he just asked, right?”

She smiled back. “Of course,” she said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, they won’t actually do it.

Jack stuck his legs out of the wagon, scooting it forward and closer to the crest of the hill. He had a borrowed Viking helmet on his head, and behind him, also in the wagon Hiccup had one of his father’s spare helmets on his head. He barely fit the helmet and had to keep moving it out of his eyes as it wobbled around on his head.

Hiccup raised the front of the helmet up out of his eyes and looked forward to Jack who had paused the wagon at the top of the hill. The older boy wasn’t saying anything or making a move towards them going forward. Hiccup looked passed Jack’s shoulder and down the hill in front of them. It really did seem massive. And steep. He wasn’t sure it was a very safe idea, but Jack seemed confident that they would be alright, and he trusted the older boys judgment. Hiccup looked back to Jack, who was staring down the hill and biting his lower lip. Their brief pause at the top of the hill dragged on, and Hiccup was about to say something when Jack announced. “Nah, this is boring. Way too small a hill.” He put his feet back out of the wagon and stood up beside it. “Is there a bigger hill in the area?”

Hiccup hopped out of the wagon, feeling admittedly a tiny bit relieved. “No,” He said, fixing the helmet on his head again. “I’m pretty sure this is the biggest hill in the area.”

Jack put on a dramatic frown. “Well, that won’t do.” He paused a moment, looking around. “Let’s do something else!”

Hiccup smiled. “Okay!” Somehow the two boys and the market managed to make it through the day without injury or incident and the second day found the two boys at the edge of the town swinging sticks at each other. Pretending to be mighty warriors in a duel. Jack swung his stick around with great flare.

“No doubt you have been plotting my downfall since the very beginning!”

Hiccup gave him a slightly perplexed look, he had no idea how to respond to that.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance!” Jack suddenly announced.

Hiccup’s jaw dropped at that proclamation. Was... was Jack being serious.. or… he took a few nervous steps backwards. His father had once told him there were some chief’s sons that would attempt to kill the children of other chiefs, but.. he didn’t think it would happen at such a young age. Was… was Jack the son of a chief? The other boy’s father didn’t seem like a Viking.

Jack’s eyes widened at Hiccup’s reaction. He lowered his stick as he realized Hiccup had misunderstood. “No.. no.. I-I didn’t mean….” he assured the younger boy. “It’s-it’s just part of the game.” Jack rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. “umm…” he stumbled over his words slightly. “T-Try responding with something like… ‘your fall has been assured since long ago.’” He moved back a step and raised his arm again, holding the stick out before repeating the line again.

Hiccup watched him nervously then raised his arm shakily as well. However he couldn’t remember what Jack had suggested he respond with. “You… You couldn’t kill a fly…” he said instead.

Jack’s eyes widened slightly. That was even better than what he had suggested. “I’ll-I’ll do even better… I’ll kill you and all of your people.”

Hiccup’s eyebrow dipped down slightly. He was unsure of how to respond to that. After a moment he said, “Try your worst!” Then the two boy were running at each other and beating the two sticks together. The two boys beat each other with sticks for a while then eventually went off and explored the area around the market.

Several hours later it was time for Hiccup to leave with his father once again. As Berk’s ship pulled out of the harbor Stoick glanced to the back of the ship, to see Hiccup standing at the very rear. He was barely able to look over the back, and was waving furiously at the other boy that stood on the dock, also waving.

 

The year Hiccup turned ten he once again returned with his Father and almost immediately set out in search of his friend. He soon found him, and as usual shortly after the two boys found trouble.

Hiccup pulled himself up onto a branch across the tree from Jack, his foot squished between the branch and the tree trunk. He glanced at Jack’s shoeless feet, how was he even managing that? Didn’t it hurt his feet? Jack grabbed a large branch above his head and swung from it a bit, shaking most of the tree in the process and Hiccup clung to the main trunk trying not to fall from his perch. Jack settled back on his branch and climbed another branch higher. Hiccup looked up the tree, trying to route the best path for him to take up to the next major branch he could see above him. As he caught up to the older boy again, Jack was looking up at the branches above them. Hiccup looked up as well, but wasn’t sure it was a good idea to continue up the tree. The branches were starting to get a lot smaller. He wasn’t sure they would hold their weight.

“Wanna go higher?” Jack asked him.

Hiccup frowned up at the next set of branches. “I don’t think they’ll hold us.”

Jack pointed above them. “That one will probably hold you,” he said.

Hiccup bit his bottom lip and stared up at the branch. Well… it did look pretty strong. He reached up and took a hold of the branch above him pulling himself higher as he climbed. As he reached the branch in question he grabbed it and it swayed a bit as he held it. He used other branches to aid in his climb and was soon perched precariously on the branch and holding another above his head. He looked down to Jack with a grin.

“See? I told you it would work!” the older boy crowed.

Hiccup smiled down at Jack. Well, that hadn’t been so bad. He pulled himself upward with the branch above his head trying to use it to adjust himself on the branch he was sitting on. Suddenly he felt the branch he was gripping jolt. His smile faded and he looked up as it tore away from the main trunk. Hiccup flailed in an attempt to grab onto another branch, but there were no other branches within reach. He fell backwards slipped off the branch he was sitting on.

“Hiccup!” Jack yelled as the younger boy began to fall. Jack reached out and tried to catch the younger boy. He managed to grab a hold of the smaller boys shirt but couldn’t stop his downward momentum, and his attempt to stop him resulted in Jack losing his balance and falling downward through tree branches as well. Hiccup fell several feet before landing with his body across another large branch before he slipped from that one as well and tumbled to the ground. Jack managed to somehow not hit any large branches on the way down but various smaller ones hit him in the face and slapped at his arms and legs.

When they both finally came to a stop Hiccup landed on his back on the ground and Jack somehow wound up hitting the ground in a rather solid sitting position. He groaned at the feeling of his butt hitting the ground. The first attempt to move had him wincing. That was going to be sore tomorrow. He looked towards Hiccup and his eyes widened at finding the young Viking lying on his back with a pained expression on his face.

“Hiccup! Are you ok?” he asked as he crawled over with only a small amount of pain.

Hiccup ground his teeth together and shook his head. No, not ok.

“I-I.. uhh.. I’m-I’m gonna go get help ok?” Jack suggested and asked at the same time.

Hiccup only nodded his head before the older boy raced off to the market again.

The following day was the end of the market, and the first time Hiccup and Jack saw each other since Jack had returned with help after they fell from the tree. Jack kept glancing nervously at Hiccup’s arm, which was in a sling and wrapped to his chest. Other wrappings peaked out from under Hiccup’s shirt, suggesting he also had bandages wrapped around his chest.

“I’m really sorry about your arm.” Jack said quietly as his father loaded their item’s onto Burgess’s ship.

“It’s ok, it’s not your fault.” Hiccup felt like a complete idiot. How hard was it to not fall out of a tree? “I feel like the whole trip was wasted because of me.”

Jack quickly shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault either.” Jack bit his lip as he fell silent. “We’ll… just have to make up for it next year!” he said with a grin. “I’ll think on it all year. I’ll come up with some really cool stuff for us to do next year!”

“Really?”

Jack's grin got even bigger. “You bet!”

 

The year Hiccup turned eleven he returned with his father to Tirgus Market, but Jack never showed up. His father assured him that it happened sometimes. There didn’t appear to be anyone from Burgess that year. Hiccup’s father suggested that the village might have something happening that prevented them from coming. Hiccup was disappointed, but managed to enjoy the market for the most part. It was a bit more boring than previous years, without the other boy around. But he made the most of it.

 

The year Hiccup turned twelve Jack’s family once again did not return to the market. This time there were traders who came from the town, but inquires produced no helpful information. Hiccup didn’t know Jack's last name, and apparently Jack was a rather common name in their village. Hiccup managed to keep himself busy at the market. Mostly through trying to avoid Dagur, who seemed to enjoy tormenting him.

 

For a third year in a row Hiccup returned to the Tirgus Market but Jack did not. Hiccup wandered around the market wondering what had happened to his friend. He hoped the older boy was alright, but most of the market seemed to drag on.

 

The year Hiccup turned fourteen he passed on returning to the Tirgus Market. He didn’t want to get his hopes up and return to the market only to find his friend wasn’t there. He stayed home, and tried not to get in the way of dragon raids. Watching from the window of the smithy as dragons swooped by and Vikings ran around hurling nets, and jumping on dragons to attempt to subdue the beasts. Hiccup flinched backwards as another flew precariously close. He frowned and glanced back into the smithy. ... Was there something in there that could help them catch dragons better? He wondered as he jumped down from the desk and began looking through various scraps and abandoned projects Gobber had started.

 

The year Hiccup turned fifteen would change his life and the lives of everyone in the village forever, and most of the village agreed it was for the better. Although it cost him a leg, it gained him a best friend. The following year when Hiccup was sixteen another friend would unexpectedly return and change his life again.


	2. Ruined Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 months, not bad for me. Just a short transition chapter. Most of chapter 3 is already written from before, hopefully I can get it up faster. Enjoy :3
> 
> Hiccup is 16 here, Jack is 17. Takes place around the beginning of the Riders of Berk series.

Hiccup extended the cloth tail fin and checked it over one last time. Yes, that would do nicely. It was irritating to have to make another new one. The model that Toothless currently had was an older version. He was glad he hadn’t thrown it out. Who would have guessed that the last tail fin would get destroyed, and by lightning no less.

It had been an interesting couple of days. They still had no idea why Thor was angry about metal being used for the dragon perches. Hiccup was just glad Thor hadn’t been angry at Toothless, like everyone had thought. Hiccup grinned. They were still drowning in pies and smoked fish the other villagers had given them as a token of apology. They had taken a lot of them to the great hall for everyone to enjoy, but they still had many left over. More would likely make their way to the great hall, over the next few days. They wouldn’t last forever after all.

Hiccup set the tail down on the shelf as he heard the door to Gobber’s smithy open behind him. “Hiccup!” Fishlegs exclaimed as Hiccup turned towards him. “Oh, thank Thor! You really need to go down to the docks before your father kills someone.”

A few minutes later Hiccup was heading down towards the docks. From halfway up the cliff he could see a few people standing around a ship sitting in the port. At first glance nothing seemed out of place. He wasn’t sure what could have happened to make his father angry, but he also didn’t know whose ship that was.

As he reached the bottom he saw his father storming towards him, going in the opposite direction. Stoick looked up from the death glare he seemed to be giving the wooden planks of the dock, and spotted him.

“You – you need to deal with…” Stoick turned and waved to the dock, trying to express his barely contained rage, before settling on a growled, “... _THAT!_ Before I throw that gibbering idiot off the dock!”

Hiccup frowned in confusion as his father stalked past him. “Oh-kay…” Hiccup muttered to himself as Stoick started up the main walkway. Deal with what? And which gibbering idiot was he planning to throw in the water?

Hiccup looked down the dock and spotted Gobber standing next to the unfamiliar ship. He was standing at the end of the ship’s gangplank speaking to a well dressed middle aged man. Hiccup watched as he approached and noticed that Gobber didn’t actually seem to be doing much talking. He mainly seemed to be just nodding his head as the man spoke. Well, only one way he was going to figure out what was going on.

“So, you agree then?” the man was saying.

“I didn’t say that,” Gobber was quick to put in.

As Hiccup got up beside the ship he glanced over, trying to see what the ship was carrying. It could give him some information before hand so he knew what they were dealing with. There were two men moving about on the small ship’s deck, arranging a few casks and large bags. There was a third person on the ship as well. The older boy was sitting on an upturned crate a short distance from the gangplank and leaning against the ships mast. Hiccup frowned as he somehow recognized him after six years. “Jack?” he questioned out loud.

Jack sat up straighter as he noticed Hiccup as well. He seemed like he was about to say something when Gobber turned towards Hiccup and spoke first. “Ahh, Hiccup, there you are.” He motioned towards the older man. “This is-”

“Reginald Ettenburough,” the man said with a stuffy tone while extending his hand towards the young Viking. Hiccup shook the man’s hand as he continued. “We are here representing Burgess. We hope to open trade agreements with Berk.”

“Oh?” Was all Hiccup could manage as he glanced towards Jack, who had slumped back against the mast slightly. The older teen offered him what seemed to be a forced smile. Hiccup frowned slightly and looked back towards Reginald. It seemed a bit strange. As far as he knew Burgess was a long ways away, and Berk didn’t really have much to offer in the way of trade, aside from things like fish. And if Burgess had a ship to travel to Berk then they probably didn’t need fish. What did they hope to trade with a place like Berk? They did have yaks and some ore and metals, but those were plentiful and could be found all over the archipelago.

“Yes,” Gobber said. “But so far you haven’t said what it is you want to trade for.”

Jack sat forward and looked like he was about to say something when Reginald waved his hands towards Gobber. “Oh, I hardly think that matters,” Reginald said.

Hiccup’s frown deepened in confusion, and Jack slumped back against the mast again with a cringe.

“Of course that matters!” Gobber said.

“More than anything we are hoping to build a relationship. Strengthen ties!” Reginald continued as if Gobber hadn’t spoken.

“Friendship is great and all, but we’re not entering into an agreement with unspecified terms.”

“I’m sure we can come up with something. The occasional favor or service rendered in liu of goods.”

“What kind of service?” Gobber asked. It was starting to sound like they were getting closer to what the man actually wanted.

“That can be determined later, I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something.”

Gobber let out an annoyed sigh while Hiccup’s shoulders slumped. _Or not_. Hiccup glance towards Jack, and the other boy gave him another forced awkward smile.

*              *             *

 _Well that was… confusing_ , Hiccup thought as he walked back up from the docks while shaking his head. After several more minutes of circular arguments Gobber had suggested they all head to the great hall for lunch. Hiccup had pretty much immediately turned and started back up the series of walkways, ramps and catwalks heading up from the docks to the village. He had enough confusion and headaches in his life dealing with the twins. He could leave this one to his Father and Gobber. Although he was curious about why Jack was there.

“Hiccup!” He heard from behind him.

Speaking of… Hiccup turned to face Jack as the older boy ran up to him. Jack paused as he caught up and leaned forward to catch his breath a moment. “Sorry…” Jack said as he waved his arm back towards the Cliffside walk way. “That’s… a tough thing to run up.”

Hiccup couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yea, it’s a lot to get used to.”

Jack straightened up again. He looked Hiccup over a moment but was unsure what to say. He awkwardly ran a hand along the back of his neck. “Uhh… wow, look at you. You got…. Bigger.” He looked down, “and wow, you really did lose your leg...”

Hiccup gave a crooked grin and decided to spare Jack from awkward reintroduction. “Jack. What is going on? Why are you here? I haven’t seen you for six years and then suddenly you show up at our dock with… whatever _that_ is.”

“Yea, I’m really sorry about all that.” Jack said rubbing at the back of his neck again. “The thing is my village is having a bit of trouble and we’re hoping _you_ can help us.”

“Me?”

“Yea. The trouble is coming from some dragons in our area. We heard about you and the dragons in berk and thought maybe you could help.” Jack explained.

“Why didn’t you just ask?” Hiccup said.

“That was originally the plan,” Jack told him. “But then Reginald started worrying about how much such a thing would cost, and how we could possible pay for something like that. And he came up with this whole idea to try and get Berk into a trade agreement first so we could get a better deal. He’s part of the council, so we have to listen to him, to an extent. But the mayor sent me in case things went,” Jack waved towards the docks again, “Like they did. He hoped I could talk to you and sort things out if Reginald’s plan failed.”

“Like it did.” Hiccup grinned.

“Yea,” Jack said with a laugh.

Hiccup laughed as well. “So, what problem are you having with dragons?”

“There’s a group that lives in holes in the ground just west of our village, they’ve started getting really aggressive recently and we have no idea why.”

“Holes in the ground..” Hiccup cringed. “do they make this weird raspy almost whispering noise.”

Jack nodded, “Those are them.”

“Oh Thor, that sounds like whispering deaths.”

Jack’s brow furrowed at that. “That’s actually a really fitting name for them,” he commented. “Anyways, their behaviour changed earlier this year. That particular group has always been in that spot. Usually, as long as we didn’t go into their nesting area, they left us alone and we left them alone. Lately though, they chase off anyone who comes within a kilometre of their nest. We can’t even get close enough to figure out what’s changed.”

“And your hoping maybe I can?”

Jack shrugged innocently, “You do ride a dragon after all. We’ve heard about Berk training all sorts of dragons.” Jack paused, “but yea... What would getting help with something like this cost?”

Hiccup’s eyes widened a moment. “… I honestly have no idea. We could just do it for free. We don’t usually charge people for dragon related things. Usually me and the other dragon riders just do dragon stuff to learn about them. Or because we just kind of find ourselves in unexpected situations.”

“We’d have to insist on some kind of price or trade. Trust me the mayor would refuse otherwise,” Jack said with a chuckle. “And Reginald probably wouldn’t trust it.”

Hiccup laughed as well. “Uhhh, well, my dad can probably help us come up with something fair. Myself I have no idea.”

“You can help us then?”

Hiccup laughed, “Yea, it shouldn’t be too hard. With all of us together, it’ll probably be a one day job.”

*             *             *

_“Absolutely not.”_

The words rang in Hiccup’s head as he slumped onto the bench across from Jack with a grumble.

“Didn’t go well,” The older teen guessed.

The Viking set his plate down on the table giving it a withering look. “Why do people need to complicate things?” Hiccup asked. “This should be really simple. Me and my friends come to your town. Half of us distract the whispering deaths, while the others figure out what’s wrong. Maybe even fix it right then. It would have worked perfectly…”

“But, Reginald shot it down?” Jack guessed.

Hiccup gave Jack a weak smile before shaking his head with a sigh.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that Reginald had completely declined the suggestion, he had also flat out refused to explain why. At that point his Father had pulled him aside, as he was clearly losing patience with the Burgess representative. Gobber had commented Stoick should have left him to it. They had never seen Hiccup completely run out of patience. The result promised to be amusing and enlightening.

Hiccup let his head rest against his hand while poking at his fish with the other.

After shooing Gobber off with a pointed look his Father had explained that Reginald probably wasn’t just being difficult. From the perspective of someone representing their people, it wasn’t wise to invite a large group that rode and controlled dragons to come to their town. Not only could the group be confused for an invading force, but the potential for damages was staggering. Hiccup still wanted to help his friend, and the chance to observe a full nest of whispering deaths was exciting. But doing it by himself felt like such a daunting task.

Hiccup sat up with a sigh. He filled Jack in on the conversation with his Father and Jack gave him a sympathetic grin at the mess things had turned into. “So, what happens now?”

Hiccup looked over to where his Father was talking with Reginald. “Now, I guess Toothless and I take on a nest of whispering deaths alone.”

“Not completely alone,” Jack reassured him.

Hiccup smiled weakly in return. But this felt like it could end in disaster.


	3. Spelunking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup and Jack enter the whispering death nest to try and find out what's gone wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much longer since the last update than I wanted. The past 6 months have been pretty horrible mentally, but positive changes are coming in my life. Yay!
> 
> I have taken a lot of liberties with the whispering deaths' nest system, but did try to stay pretty accurate to the actual deaths from the cartoon series. Enjoy :)

Hiccup shifted in Toothless’ saddle while pulling out his compass. He twisted around slightly on Toothless’ back until he found west.

“Looks like we need to shift directions a bit bud.” He told the dragon, who warbled lightly and shifted slightly towards the left.

It was three days since the ship from Burgess had arrived in Berk and Toothless and Hiccup had stopped on dragon island before beginning the rest of their journey. After finally agreeing to help with Burgess’ dragon problem Stoick and Reginald had worked out an agreement for trading goods in exchange for Hiccup’s help. Unfortunately it was only Hiccup. He still wasn’t sure how well this was going to go, but he wanted to help, and looked forward to the chance to observe a full nest of whispering deaths. The goal was for Hiccup to determine what had caused the change in the dragons’ behavior and fix the problem if he could, or to help come up with a plan to fix it.

The Burgess ship had left the following morning, with a reluctant Jack. Hiccup had offered to let Jack travel back with him and Toothless, but Reginald had quickly put a stop to that discussion, insisting that their ship was much safer and that it was more appropriate for Jack to return on the ship.

Hiccup put his compass away and did a quick final check over Toothless’ saddle. “Alright bud, ready to go again?”

The dragon let out a warble with a nod.

The next leg of the trip would be the longest with three hours of flight over open ocean. On the far side they’d come to a much larger continent. Once they reached the shoreline they would follow it south and then west until they came to a port village called Lancaster. He would probably have to leave Toothless hiding in the trees and go into the town to make sure they were in the right place. Then they would follow a road north from Lancaster that would take them to Burgess. This was a lot further from home than he was used to going, and way out of the archipelago.

“Ok,” he said with a sigh. “Let’s get going.”

*        *        *

“What do you think?” Jack asked from beside him.

Hiccup bit his lip lightly and looked down at the nest through his spy glass. He watched as four adults and three hatchlings moved around in the dirt on the surface. Hiccup and Jack were lying on a ledge just above the rocky area where the Death’s had made their nest. “It doesn’t make sense. We’ve been here for over an hour and the whole time they’ve been above the ground. That’s not so strange for the adults, but hatchlings should spend almost all of their time in the tunnels.” Hiccup pulled the spyglass away from his face and stared at the rock and dirt covered terrain below them. “How do you feel about getting a closer look?”

Jack laughed lightly, “Thought you’d never ask.”

Hiccup pushed against the ground and slide back from the ledge, trying not to attract the dragons’ attention. “Might be even closer than you think.” The two made their way back to the tree line where Toothless was waiting. So far they had managed to keep theirs and Toothless’ presence from the whispering deaths. The last thing they needed was to get the whole nest agitated.

“Ok bud,” Hiccup said running a hand along the side of the dragons head. “We need to try and go straight up to get a better view of the area as quietly as we can.” He moved to climb onto the dragons back and noticed Jack had slowed in his approach. Hiccup frowned in confusion and then it occurred to him. “Oh, this is your first time on… d-don’t worry,” he assured the other boy. It’s perfectly safe.”

“Wha-what?” Jack stammered. “No! It’s.. I’m fine. It’s-it’s no big deal.” Suddenly he was back to walking a normal pace towards them, but he stumbled slightly on shaky legs as he got up beside the dragon.

“Well Toothless is a pretty steady flyer,” Hiccup commented not wanting Jack to feel embarrassed, “So even if you were nervous it’s very safe.” Hiccup climbed up onto Toothless’s back and a moment later Jack joined him.

As Jack settled into place behind him, Hiccup patted Toothless’s neck. “Ok, nice and easy bud.”

Bat like wings stretched out and with a few smooth motions they were off the ground. Hiccup felt the grip on the back of his shirt tighten as they went up passed the tree line. He wished they didn’t have to go up higher, but it was safest to avoid the whispering deaths spotting them.

As Toothless evened out and hovered in place the grip on Hiccup’s shirt loosened slightly. “S-So uhh… what are we looking for?” Jack asked, trying to hide the way his voice shook.

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder, trying to gauge how the other boy was doing. “Hopefully a secondary tunnel. One that isn’t used as much as the others.” Hiccup scanned the area around the nest. It was a rocky area with trees around half of it, and a cliff face between the nest and the river to the west.

Toothless letting out a trill pulled his attention away. “What’s up bud?” He asked and Toothless angled his head down and to the side. Hiccup looked in the direction the dragon was pointing. “Aah, that’s what we’re looking for.”

Just south of the nest on the other side of a large bunch of trees was a hole in the middle of a mound of dirt. “Good eye bud,” he said patting the dragon’s neck as they headed for the ground.

Once back on the ground Jack hopped down off the dragon while Hiccup rummaged through a saddle bag. A moment later he pulled out some rope and slid off of Toothless’ back, then motioned for Toothless to take off again.

Hiccup dropped the coil of rope in the grass and peered into the dark steeply sloped pit. He listened a moment, trying to determine if there were any deaths in this part of the tunnel system. It seemed quiet enough, so the young Viking snatched up one end of the rope and moved to tie it to the trunk of a tree.

Jack approached the hole and also peered down.

“You know, you don’t have to come down with me,” Hiccup said as he tied the end off.

“Are you kidding?” Jack said. “Of course I’m going down there.” He chuckled. “This is the sort of thing I’ll tell my grandkids about.”

Hiccup laughed as well. “Alright,” he said, “But I need to stress that this is pretty dangerous. Whispering deaths will try to chase us out of the nest if they find us in there, but if we don’t leave fast enough or they feel threatened, they will try to kill us.” He dropped the other end of the rope into the hole. “Our main advantage is that they can’t see very well. They hunt mainly by sound.” He sighed again, knowing how unlikely his next statement was, “With luck, we might be able to get in and out without incident”

“All the more reason to go without these,” Jack stated, pulling a shoe from one foot.

“You should probably wear those.”

“Why?” Jack questioned, “I can move more quietly without.”

“Whispering deaths dig their tunnels using their teeth. The walls and floors are going to have some very sharp and jagged edges.”

Jack stopped trying to pull his shoe off and instead pulled the other back on. He straightened with a fake sigh. “You’re taking all the fun out of this. You and your logic.”

Hiccup chuckled back, “Let’s be honest here, logical people don’t go into dragons’ nests.”

Jack laughed. “Of course not. What was I thinking.”

Hiccup grinned back then turned and climbed down the rope. Jack watched till Hiccup reached the bottom of the hole then climbed down as well.

Jack dropped the last couple feet down. Hiccup was looking down the tunnel and Jack looked back up at the opening. “What do you think, about 15 feet down?” Jack whispered.

Hiccup turned and looked back up at the opening. “Yea, about that,” he said quietly.

The tunnel they were in sloped downward and broke off into a maze of other smaller tunnels, some stayed level with the tunnel they were in, others joined from various angles and a few even joined up from the roof.

The whole nest was a giant catacomb system with cracks in the top of the tunnel that let small rays of light leak in and made the path just barely visible. A layer of loose dirt and rock covered the floor, and roots hung down from the roof, and some had grown across the tunnel and into the floors and walls on the other side.

Hiccup looked up to the roof where some dirt had fallen away. “Odd,” he said. “They usually keep the tunnels cleaner than this. Aren’t they using this one?”

Jack brushed aside a tangle of roots blocking the path ahead. “It might be odd, but hopefully it makes looking around easier.”

“Definitely a bit safer,” Hiccup responded as the two started down into the tunnel system.

It seemed that every few feet another tunnel joined up with the one they were in. With tunnels going off in almost every direction he had to wonder how it stayed so stable. Jack had to hand it to the dragons, they definitely knew how to build an intricate nesting system. But every time they passed one of the tunnels he couldn’t help but glance warily into the dark openings, half expecting something to come shooting out at them. He knew he could be paranoid, but felt justified in this instance.

The two walked through the tunnel as it gradually sloped downward, all the while listening for signs of dragons approaching, and attempting to peer through the dark tunnel that was slowly growing darker. “Are they always this creepy?” Jack quietly asked about the cave system.

“Usually,” Hiccup whispered back. “We probably won’t see any of them until we get deeper-”

Hiccup was cut off by a loud rasping coming from one of the tunnels as they passed. Hiccup frowned and peered into the darkness. “That’s… Strange, they should be lower than this,” he peered down the tunnel. It seemed to bank to the side. They listened a moment and the rasping was repeated. “Let’s take a look,” he said before starting down the side tunnel.

Jack chuckled. “Of course. Go towards the sound of the thing that wants to kill us.”

Hiccup grinned back, “That’s the spirit.”

Jack chuckled again before following Hiccup into the secondary tunnel.

After a short distance the path opened at an angle into a large cavern. Hiccup motioned for Jack to wait a moment, crept up to the corner and peered into the large cavern. After a moment Hiccup turned back with a confused and slightly concerned expression. Jack moved past and also stuck his head around the corner just enough to get a look into the room. In the cavern were three mound nests with several eggs in each. One full size whispering death was patrolling around the circular room, occasionally swooping down to inspect or sniff at an egg.

Jack felt a light tug at his sleeve. He turned to Hiccup, who was motioning for Jack to follow him. Jack nodded and the two started back down the tunnel and away from the larger room.

They walked in silence for a few moments before Hiccup let out exasperated sigh. “This is… strange.”

“What?”

“That-” Hiccup gestured back towards the room, “Looked like their main nesting area, but it’s way too close to the surface. It should be two or three levels down.” He shook his head. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he said as they arrived back at the main tunnel.

“Keep heading down?” Jack suggested.

Hiccup nodded and the two teens turned back into the downward sloping tunnel. Jack found himself occasionally glancing to the side to look down tunnels, still expecting a dragon to come flying out at them. After a while of not hearing or seeing anything he felt slightly less paranoid and glanced over to Hiccup. The young Viking certainly seemed to know what he was doing, it helped make this whole thing a little less terrifying. There was no way he would come down here on his own. Or with anyone else for that matter.

The younger teen was currently worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. He was staring ahead and slightly to the side, seemingly lost in thought. As they passed a tunnel Hiccup glanced into it and the act seemed to pull him from his thoughts. He shook his head slightly and turned his attention back to their current tunnel with a huff.

“I just hope there isn’t something else down there that’s scared them up to the higher levels.” Hiccup said.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “What kind of creature could scare a dragon out of it’s nesting grounds?”

“That’s the sort of question I don’t want an answer to,” Hiccup said.

Jack opened his mouth to respond but heard and felt his foot connect with water. He quickly hopped backwards before he could accidentally put his other foot in the water. Hiccup quickly stopped beside him, his fake foot already in the water and almost fell from trying to stop his forward momentum.

“Or it… could be water.” Hiccup said.

Jack gave his soaked foot a shake before setting it down and peering into the darkness. The water stretched ahead of them to where the tunnel’s ceiling gradually disappeared beneath it’s surface. Hiccup crouched down to inspect the water.

“If this water has been sitting here for a while, shouldn’t the air be more stagnant?” Jack stated more than asked.

Hiccup hesitated a moment before sticking his hand into the water. “It’s moving slightly,” he said. “If it’s got a current it needs to have a source and an outlet, but where is it coming from?”

Jack frowned at the surface a moment trying to think what might be feeding water into the caves. There was a lake, but it was way too far away. And the well, but that was closer to town. And there was...

“The river,” Jack muttered as it suddenly came to him. “It flooded this spring. On the other side of the cliffs that surround the nest. It was apparently worse than it’s been in 30 years. The banks eroded and there were several mudslides. One of them must have opened a route for water to get in.

Hiccup stood up with a sigh and shook his hand off. “Well, that doesn’t sound like something we can fix.”

Jack nodded. “So what now?”

Hiccup grinned back at the older boy. “Now the real fun begins.” And he turned and started back up the tunnel with Jack a step behind.

Jack raised an eyebrow and grinned. “That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

Hiccup grinned back, but it was more like a grimace. “We’ll probably need to relocate them.”

Jack’s eyes widened. “How on earth do we do that!?”

“With a great deal of difficulty. We’ll need to-” a rasping grinding whisper in the tunnel next to them cut Hiccup off. Both boys froze before glancing to each other, then turned to look into the tunnel next to them.

“Shouldn’t we run?” Jack urged, grabbing Hiccup’s shoulder as the rasping grew closer.

Hiccup grabbed Jack’s wrist. “No!” He yelled back over the rasping.

“What?!”

“We need to wait until-” Hiccup was cut off by a row of teeth in a massive mouth suddenly appearing from the side tunnel.

The tunnel went silent suddenly as the two boys stared at the gaping mouth in an enormous round head. Rows of shark like teeth rotating behind the ring of razor fangs. The dragon stopped making any noise while trying to hear and asses them.

Jack swallowed thickly between panted breaths while both boys held perfectly still.

“We need to wait,” Hiccup continued very quietly, “Until it starts to try and breathe fire.”

The dragon inched slowly towards them, its massive head bobbing as it tried to smell them, large holes for nostrils above the mouth flaring. Jack felt his entire upper body stiffen involuntarily as the breath being sucked in by the whispering death blew his hair around. He was seriously regretting some of his most recent life choices. The dragon let out a low raspy growl as it exhaled.

“Hold,” Hiccup whispered from right beside him with his hand still gripping Jack’s arm. “…but be ready to run. We can’t outrun it, but if we wait till it starts breathing fire we might be able to get away.”

“Might?” Jack whispered shakily through clenched teeth.

The dragon reared back on a long snake like body and let out another long rasping hiss, mouth staying stretched open at the end.

“Wait for it…”

Deep in the dragons mouth the back of it’s throat began to glow.

“Run!” Hiccup yelled and suddenly Jack was being pulled to the side and into a tunnel opposite the one the whispering death had appeared from. The death let loose a vortex of flame with a roar as the two disappeared around the first bend of the side tunnel.

The flames hit the wall a few feet behind them. They could feel the heat on their backs and Jack swore his pant legs must be singed.

The two set a reckless pace down the tunnel, unsure of how they could get away from the dragon. They were going the wrong direction from the way they had entered and Jack had no idea where the tunnel they were in led. He resisted looking over his shoulder as he heard the dragon rasp again upon entering the tunnel.

There was a bend in the tunnel ahead of them. Maybe they could figure something out when they passed it. So far he had no idea what they could do. Hopefully the resourceful Viking running beside him had something in mind. He glanced to Hiccup whose eyes seemed to widen slightly as they approached the bend.

“Jack?!” Hiccup shouted as they turned the corner. Jack glanced in his direction again. “Don’t scream!” Hiccup yelled as he brought both his hands up and shoved against Jack’s shoulder.

Caught completely off guard, Jack fell sideways, his leg connecting against the ledge of another tunnel entrance as he fell sideways and headfirst into the new downward sloping tunnel. He managed to regain his senses just enough to avoid face planting in the dirt. An instant later he heard Hiccup slide into the tunnel beside him. He managed to glance up in time to see Hiccup motioning for him to be quiet. Jack couldn’t help but flinch slightly as he heard the whispering death go thundering past them down the tunnel they had just been in, and continue off into the darkness.

Jack’s head slumped forward into the dirt as he released a sigh of relief. He took a few steadying breaths before pushing himself back up and joining Hiccup in the tunnel again.

Hiccup grinned nervously, “Yea, their vision is not the greatest.”

Jack nodded, “Thankfully.”

“Let’s get out of here before it figures out what happened.

Jack whole heartedly agreed.

 


End file.
